A lot of people ask me where the name Deltics comes from, or what it means.  It looks like it might be connected to Delphi, but it isn’t (although that seeming affinity is one of the reasons I chose it).

The original inspiration comes from an early Chris Rea album of the same name which has long been a personal favourite.

The name of that album in turn stems from Chris Rea’s interest in railway locomotives, as “Deltics” became the name by which certain diesel engined locomotives were known.  In fact, that name was itself derived from the engine in those locomotives.

The Napier Deltic.

Having recently arrived in New Zealand the Napier name immediately struck a chord, as this is also the name of a city here.

I liked the name, noticed the fairly obvious similarity to “Delphi”, and in the absence of any better ideas decided to go with it.